Elyria Reinvestment Plan

ELYRIA REINVESTMENT PLAN

SPRING 2014

Contents Introduction 3

The Vision 23

Context 7

The Plan 27

Analysis 15

Conclusion 51

The Problems19

Works Cited 55

Chad Brown

Instructor Kevin Puccio

The Team Jill Falchi Cameron Savois Waverly Klaw

1. INTRODUCTION

Introduction

Elyria Neighborhood Boundary + Figure Ground

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ELYRIA INTRODUCING

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This assessment of the Elyria neighborhood in Denver, Colorado was prepared by a team of University of Colorado Denver graduate planning students. Through numerous site visits and research during February and March, 2014, the planning team cultivated information related to the neighborhood’s history, planning context, physical conditions, demographic makeup, and economic background to form a view of the relevant trends, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and constraints. The purpose of this assessment is to gather, analyze, organize and present background information on the Elyria neighborhood in order to prepare a vision plan for the neighborhood that meets the needs of its residents and businesses.

This is an initial assessment and observations of the site visit that the team had. We listed out all of the unique characteristics and features that we noticed while in the area. We took note of buildings, infrastructure, people, transportation, general feel and other elements that make up a neighborhood. This strategy is excellent for collaboration and discussion, it also describes the types of lens we view through while in a new and foreign area. Overall Elyria was a diverse neighborhood of uses, issues, systems, and connections.

Aerial of the Elyria Neighborhood

INTRO

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2. CONTEXT

Context

Stockyards Complex ca 1931

ca 1909

Pavilion, Stock Yds., Denver

Hedenskog Family Photo

HISTORY Elyria is one of the older neighborhoods in Northwest Denver. The area was platted in 1881 and incorporated as an independent town in 1890. Elyria was, upon founding, a working class community. Residential lots were being sold at a lower price, payable in installments and with the opportunity to obtain financing for home construction in order to “enable those in moderate circumstances to avail themselves of land in one of the finer suburbs of Denver, though not within the city limits.” Elyria was annexed to Denver in 1902.

While Elyria was home to a number of smelters and slaughterhouses, Elyria’s first ordinances did not address these. The first ordinces were to protect the natural environment by prohibiting dumping of animal remains or other industrial waste into any river or waterway (Macmillan, 2004, page 4).

The 1900 U.S. Census revealed that although Eastern European immigrants were said to have populated Elyria, many residents came from Germany, England, Scotland, Ireland, Canada and the Scandinavian countries. Racially, all but four African American families were white (MacMillan, 2004, page 11).

Elyria and Globeville had an adversarial relationship in the early years as Globeville residents worked largely in the Argo and

Globe Smelters, and Elyria residents worked for the Grant Smelter and the packing plants.

Elyria and Swansea had better relations because there was no hard edge between their neighborhoods and Elyria’s children all went to the Swansea school for their secondary education (MacMillan, 2004, pages 20-21).

In the early 20th Century, 47th Avenue was Elyria’s main street. Starting on Lafayette, the street contained saloons, banks, grocery stores, meat markets, the town hall and fire station, the Elyria School, barber shops, shoe repair shops, dry cleaner’s and a beauty shop.

A number of businesses on 46th and 48th Avenues were run out of the owners’ homes (MacMillan, 2004, page 21).

Elyria is home to a number of landmarks.

Riverside Cemetery, established in 1876, is Denver’s oldest cemetery. It was designated as a National Historic District in 1992. Other historical landmarks include the Elyria School, built in 1927, the Livestock Exchange Building from 1916 which houses the National Western Stock Show, and the Chapel Building, built in 1876. While not on the National Register of Historic Places, some homes in Elyria such as the Hedenskog home at 4695 High Street offer a rich neighborhood history and should be considered in future neighborhood planning.

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ELYRIA CONTEXTUALIZING

THE RESIDENTS

The demographics of Elyria tell us that the neighborhood is comprised of young, Hispanic residents who live in older homes and speak equal amounts of English and Spanish as their primary language.

Impacts of this assessment could include opportunities to create or support educational or early child development programs and facilities, dual-language signage, lead-abatement and home efficiency improvements. Older homes could be restored to their classical design, creating an interesting character for the neighborhood and paying homage to the neighborhood’s history. A possible threat includes continued deterioration of the neighborhood if an influx of Spanish-only speakers feel uncomfortable advocating for their needs.

Only one-fifth of the land in Elyria is designated for residential structures as the rest is occupied by industrial uses. With such a small area for homes, it is no surprise that this neighborhood only has 1,149 residents. Seventy-five percent of the residents are Hispanic, 13% are White, and the remaining 9% are black. Moreover, with a median household income of $25,272 residents in Elyria take home less than half of the income of Denver residents.

CONTEXT

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ECONOMICS

Commercial At first glance the Elyria commercial district is composed primarily of the Purina pet-food factory and the National Western Stock Show. While Purina is the largest current employer in the study area, the Stock Show hires approximately 750 seasonal workers each year. Exactly how many of these temporary jobs belong to Elyria residents is unknown, however according to the City of Denver’s Office of Economic Development, residents are typically not employed within the neighborhood (Stock Show Health Assessment, 14). However, the National Western Stock Show is the largest landholder in the Elyria neighborhood. It is beneficial to the community because of the thru-traffic it brings to local businesses and hotels. Overall attendance at the Stock Show in 2014 was 640,022 people (The National Western Stock Show, n.d.). It also allows for a very urban area to participate in animal husbandry, a rarity for the United States and gives Denver a unique opportunity. It also adds character and a sense of place in a rather placeless industrial community.

Aside from the major employers in Elyria, there are several other businesses in the neighborhood. Based on windshield surveys, the majority of commercial properties on Brighton Boulevard are automobile-related and industrial businesses

as well as marijuana dispensaries. El Mexicano Auto Repair and the Sanctuary Wellness Center are located just off Brighton Boulevard on Race Street. Less than a mile away is another dispensary called Broadway Wellness. In addition, on East Brighton Boulevard, in close proximity to the Denver Sheriff Impound Facility, are Eco Truck Wash, G&K Services, North Park Transportation Company and Wyatt’s Towing Company. Further, there are three junkyards in Elyria: Crusher Auto & Truck Salvage, Junk Woman, and Junk Car Removal Denver. The Eaton Metal Products Compnay is a steel plate manufacturing business whose corporate headquarters have been located in Elyria since 1924. While this list does not include every business in the Elyria neighborhood, it gives a fair representation of the typology of the area.

Employment Based on data from the U.S. Census American Fact Finder database, the population of eligible workers over the age of 16 in the Elyria-Swansea Census Tract is approximately 4,699 residents. Of these workers, 53.1 percent are currently employed, 11.1 percent are unemployed and 35.6 percent are not in the labor force at all (American Fact Finder). There were 2,494 workers in Elyria-Swansea according to 20082012 data. The majority consisted of 673 workers who were employed in the service industry, followed by 606 who worked construction, natural resource, or maintenance jobs.

Transportation, production, and material-moving workers numbered 431, while those in the sales and office occupation accounted for 413 workers. Management, business, science, and art occupations employed 371 workers. Figure 5.2 above breaks down occupation even further into subgroups by industry.

Income Elyria-Swansea, although in close proximity to economic opportunity in downtown Denver, has below average income levels. According to data from 2000, nearly 62 percent of households had income less than 100 percent of Denver’s median income (Piton Foundation, n.d.). Little has been done in terms of economic development to alter this trend.

Estimates of 2008-2012 income trends show the majority of Elyria-Swansea households bring in between $10,000 and $30,000, while the majority of Coloradan and American households bring home $50,001 or more. The breakdown of household income for Elyria-Swansea illustrates that the majority of households make between $15,000-$24,999.

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ELYRIA With the future RTD light rail and commuter rail stations planned and ready for implementation in 2014, land use will be altered to adequately address the development that will take place in the coming years. New development also includes plans for the redesign of the Stock Show which will reimagine the area and create a sense of continuity within the neighborhood between the I-70 corridor. This development will hopefully be the catalyst to create a new character for Elyria.

CONTEXTUALIZING

draw for the city of Denver, so having a highly active area in a predominantly industrial area can create a myriad of problems. This issue can be attributed to the residential areas of the neighborhood as well. The surrounding uses make for the area to be undesirable to live in with industrial uses such a factories, junkyards, and landfills. This neighborhood will also have trouble attracting other companies that are non-industrial to develop within Elyria.

Existing Land Use in Elyria

The zoning and land use designation in Elyria are very similar. There are a variety of land uses in the Elyria Neighborhood. The majority of land use falls under the designation of entertainmentcultural, industrial, and transit communication utility (TCU). These uses account for a large percentage of the land area and buildings.

As shown on the Existing Zoning map, ElyriaSwansea’s zoning is predominantly industrial, with 81% of its 1,310 acres zoned industrial.

The most unique land uses for the area which give Elyria its character is the National Western Stock Show, the Purina Plant, and the Railroad.

The National Western Stock Show occupies about 80 acres within the Elyria neighborhood boundary. These land use designations create unique challenges and opportunities for the neighborhood. There are a mix of heavy to light industrial uses in the area which cause problems like noise and truck traffic. The zoning and land uses are a descriptive quantifier that a composite of an extensive variety of topics that come together including issues relating to the neighborhood environment, community facilities, urban design, historic preservation, economic and housing development.

The National Western Stock Show is a major

Existing Zoning in Elyria

CURRENT CHARACTER

CONTEXT

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Park Area According to Denver County’s Tree Canopy Assessment 2013, Elyria has less than five percent of its land covered in trees. Most of Denver has a tree coverage that is between 15% and 20% tree coverage or more.

Hydrology

NATURAL SYSTEMS + OPEN SPACE Most of Elyria is barren industrial sites, but the neighborhood does have some greenery, though overall less than the rest of the city.

There are two sources of open space within the Elyria neighborhood: Elyria Park and Globeville Landing Park.

Elyria Park is connected to the Colorado Miners Community Center and has basketball courts, a skate park, a baseball field, playground and playing fields. This is a source of pride and community activity.

There are many events that go on at this site, including workforce training. The park is well maintained but is not well connected to the rest of the neighborhood. This area seems to be one of the only places in Elyria where community interests and organization come to fruition.

Globeville Landing Park is located in the southern half of the neighborhood along the South Platte River. This open space is underutilized but has potential. The South Platte River path connects the park to the River North area and lower downtown Denver. There are not many amenities at this park except for the pavilion that is seldom used.

Much of Elyria was developed before the full demands of urban infrastructure were known. There is little chance of flooding from the River in most of the community, however the western side of the Stock Show has some danger of flooding from the river. The insufficient infrastructure of the neighborhood creates areas throughout the community where water pools, especially in the large parking lots that are sprinkled throughout.

Soil The soil of Elyria is similar in composition to the rest of Denver, meaning it is primarily comprised of dense clay.

What is of particular interest is the level of pollution found in the soil. The majority of the neighborhood was filled with heavy industrial factories in the 1800’s (essentially all areas marked as a superfund), and much of the river was used to dispose of garbage. Even Elyria’s best known landmark, the National Western Stock Show, lies on top of a superfund site.

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Since there is so little soft landscaping in Elyria, there aren’t many opportunities for wildlife habitat. Even with what little green infrastructure exists, there is a wildlife presence because of migrating birds, the river, and the proximity to the Heron Pond park area. The Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge is also fairly close to the community (about nine miles away) this proximity puts the Elyria area within distance of various bird species, including the Bald Eagle. Other species that make the Platte River home, for at least part of the year, include Sandhill Cranes, Whooping Cranes, geese and ducks such as Common Mergansers, Mallards, Pintails and Canadian Geese (National Wildlife Federation, n.d.).

The goal of GrowHaus is to offer the community more food options in an otherwise poorly serviced area. This group has become a major leader in the food movement on the Front Range, and has created a dynamic community space oriented around food. The GrowHaus offers a condensed version of a modern grocery store produce section. Seen here are root vegetables and tomatoes. Cold stored foods are offered as well, and are mostly comprised of fresh vegetables.

Air quality The Elyria-Swansea and Globeville neighborhoods are home to over 500 regulated facilities, Interstate 70 and 25 carry nearly 175,000 and 225,000 vehicles per day, there are 11,000 local diesel trucks used by industry to transport goods through these neighborhoods, and I-70 alone sees nearly 11,000 diesel trucks pass by Elyria daily (Northwest Stock Show Health Impact Assessment, n.d.). The many large noxious industries, “including a petroleum refinery (SunCor), a bulk petroleum terminal, a coal-fired power plant, a furniture manufacturer, and many solvent-based industries” (Feine, E., Guzy, L., Howard, N., Jeong, H., Nadolny, S., & Sadler, B., n.d.), make Elyria’s ZIP code (80216) the most polluted in the State of Colorado.

Housing Elyria has a small number of housing options mostly located in the south-eastern corner of the neighborhood. The rest of the community is made up of the Stock Show and Industrial uses. In addition to the housing stock being low, most of the homes were built long ago, and the overall land value is low. According to the Northwest Stock Show Health Impact Assessment, “only 222 acres in Elyria-Swansea [are] zoned for residential use, out of a total of 1,310 acres.” Many of the homes in Elyria have character due to their age, but many of them are small for modern demand. The majority of the homes are 1-3 bedrooms on narrow lots.

ELYRIA

The GrowHaus

CONTEXTUALIZING

Wildlife

The National Western Stock Show The stock show has been open for over a hundred years and annually exhibits and sells more than 15,000 heads of horses, cattle, sheep, swine, goats, llamas, alpacas, bison, yak, poultry and rabbits (The National Western Stock Show, n.d.). The National Western Stock Show is noted for hosting the world’s only carload and pen cattle show, held in the historic Denver Union Stockyards. The show is also a nonprofit charitable organization that provides college and graduate level scholarships in agriculture and medicine for practice in rural areas, which allows for a unique interface between urban and rural areas (The National Western Stock Show, n.d.). This community feature is a major influence on the area due to the amount of traffic that it brings to local business when the show is on.

Elyria Community Center Colorado Miners Community Center offers the area the opportunity to exercise and recreate.

Local Public Library The Valdez-Perry Branch of the Denver Public Library offers Elyria access to media including books and a computer lab.

CONTEXT

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03. ANALYSIS

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunites, Constraints The River Elyria’s proximity to the South Platte River was strategic for industry during the turn of the 20th century because of its drainage and dumping capabilities.

Currently, there are three main rail yards within the neighborhood one of which runs parallel to the river preventing any sort of natural amenities from developing. Over the past twenty years this trend has begun to reverse as Denver has realized the importance of the South Platte River. Because of its period flooding, the planning team recommends utilizing the river and its banks as a green space and buffer between it and the National Western Center. Implementing a scenic viewing area and park would emphasize the strengths of having riverfront property within the neighborhood by attracting both residents and visitors to the site.

The Industry Historically, the Elyria neighborhood was founded on the pretense of industrial uses. Metal production, meatpacking, and manufacturing have existed in Elyria for nearly a century and currently span across 80% of Elyria’s land. For the majority of Elyria residents and business owners, this is how they wish their neighborhood to remain. Eaton Metal’s Global Headquarters for example has been located in Elyria since 1924 and is still in operation today. For companies like Eaton, being located in a neighborhood with great rail connectivity within close proximity to Denver is a huge strength. Conversely, there are also a handful of noxious industrial uses in Elyria that happen to border the small residential section of the neighborhood. These include salvage yards and impound lots, which have systematically turned into dumping grounds.

From this weakness is the opportunity to replace these noxious uses with modern, technology-based industries that would boost the economy while maintaining Elyria’s industrial past.

National Western Center Rail Station Since 1906 the National Western Stock Show has attracted thousands of visitors to the Elyria neighborhood.

Unfortunately, the Stock Show’s main event lasts a mere eighteen days during the month of January leaving the majority of the National Western Stock Show land unused for a large portion of the year. However, transforming the Stock Show into the National Western Center, a year-round destination that would include upgraded facilities and regular events, would have a huge impact on the economic vitality in the area.

Furthermore, the potential partnership between CSU, the National Western Center, and the Elyria neighborhood would enhance cooperation between these three key players and allow for positive growth. The last piece to this puzzle is the construction of the National Western Center Rail Station in Elyria.

In a neighborhood where pedestrian connectivity is a serious constraint, this rail line will not only allow residents to get around more readily it will also bring more visitors to Elyria via public transit.

The Railroads There are currently four rail lines running through the Elyria neighborhood, three of which encompass and bisect the National Western Stock Show. The fourth line acts as a barrier between the Elyria and Swansea neighborhoods. Originally built to transport goods to and from the industries in the neighborhood, these rail lines still employ this responsibility but are more problematic for multimodal transportation and modern growth. Although the presence of rail is vital for some businesses, the planning team believes consolidating one or more of the lines to free up the public domain could lessen this constraint.

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Pedestrian circulation in Elyria is also greater along Brighton Boulevard however there are several other attractions within the neighborhood where people gather. For example, the Rec Center and Elyria Park on 48th and Race Street, the GrowHaus on 47th and York, and the library on 47th and Vine are all popular pedestrian nodes in the neighborhood.

During the Stock Show months the National Western Stock Show site is also a notable pedestrian destination.

To enhance these uses and improve connectivity, the planning team suggests creating several new road connections in Elyria. As an effort to enhance connectivity to the rail station a road would be built to turn west from Brighton just north of the station and continue south on the west side of the rail. Constructing a street parallel to the National Western Drive on the west side would provide better access to the river and reduce block length. To allow better ease of access to Globeville a new road would begin where 47th intersects with Brighton and then continue west under the railroad through an existing tunnel on National Western Stock Show land and across the river to connect to 48th Avenue in Globeville.

ANALYZING

VEHICULAR CIRCULATION AND POTENTIAL CONNECTIONS VEHICULAR CIRCULATION AND POTENTIAL CONNECTIONS

The presence of Interstate 70 through Elyria has significantly impacted the flow of traffic within the neighborhood.

Approximately 150,000 vehicles pass through Elyria every day on the interstate. The majority is unaware that they are even doing so. However, because of the industrial presence in Elyria, a large portion of this traffic is freight carried to and from businesses by tractor-trailer. Traffic heading into Elyria or Globeville travels north via Brighton Boulevard or continues on to Race Court or York Street. If their destination were in RiNo or other southern neighborhoods vehicles would exit I-70 and travel south on Brighton Boulevard.

Additionally, because Elyria is constrained by the rail to the east traffic flow to the Swansea neighborhood is diverted south to York Street. Therefore, vehicular transportation is primarily centered along the Brighton Boulevard corridor and along the limited connections between neighborhoods.

ELYRIA

ANALYSIS

ANALYSIS

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4. THE PROBLEMS

The Problems The Elyria neighborhood is challenged by low connectivity to the rest of Denver, no buffers between residential homes and industrial and highway/railroad routes, poor infrastructure, underutilized or poorly maintained properties, and a lack of green space or a neighborhood commercial “main street.” Its history leaves a legacy of industry that demonstrates the need to make residential improvement and growth while maintaining the neighborhood’s industrial past.

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PROBLEMS

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PROBLEMS IN

ELYRIA

5. THE VISION

The Vision Elyria will become a walkable neighborhood connected with the rest of Denver. Elyria will possess an intimate, community-oriented commercial main street whose uses reflect the desires of the residents, more and better connected green spaces with wayfinding and branding to aid residents and visitors to the National Western Center and other attractions. Enhancing the historic industrial use of the area while buffering residential uses from industrial, road and rail thoroughfares will increase pride and maintenance/preservation of residential structures.

Driving up Brighton Boulevard, the main road in Elyria, it is easy to drive through the community without realizing that one has entered a unique and historical neighborhood. To try and counteract this, one of our suggestions is to create a logo that can help represent where Elyria is heading while also trying to clarify place and identity. This logo could also help people find their way to Elyria’s amenities. There are three primary components to the logo—a cow, a sunflower, and a light rail. The cow is to illustrate the National Western Stock Show’s connection, and their rural-urban dynamic. The sunflower represents bioremediation, and a cleaner more green Elyria. The light rail represents a progressive environmentally conscious multimodal Elyria, and the development of the North light rail stop that will be coming to the community.

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THE VISION

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VISIONING

ELYRIA

6. THE PLAN

The Plan

Proposed Land Use Plan for Elyria

LAND USE Today, 80% of Elyria’s land use is of culturally appropriate features like industrial. In our proposed land use, plazas and specific housing types. we keep the northern portion of the neighborhood industrial.

The third change we see is west of the rail station along the river. First we are The proposed land use plan that we changing two of the parcels to mixed have created allows for flexibility and use commercial residential. Another a better blending of uses. We have parcel we proposed will be changed identified three main areas within the to commercial, and the fourth parcel neighborhood where we see a change be changed to multi family medium of land usage. density residential. These new uses will accommodate the new National The first change we made was to the Western Center and CSU campus which Brighton Boulevard corridor between will have needs of housing, commercial, E 48th Ave and E 46th Ave. With the and hospitality uses. We imagine collaboration between Colorado State this area to serve as a campus type University and the National Western feel as well as a mixed use walkable Stock Show and the location of the environment. Further west we have North Metro Rail Line Station, we see returned much of the land to open the areas directly adjacent to these space, which will help remediate the sites being areas of change and can pollution created by the former uses, as potentially see the most investment. well as provide recreation and aesthetic Brighton Blvd adjacent to the stock show appeal along the South Platte River. we image will be a mixed use office and commercial main street. We will attempt Lastly we created a mixed employment to encourage local business along with district along Brighton Blvd south of culturally appreciate businesses.

I-25 which is in line with the 38th and Blake Station Area Plan. This mixed The second change we have made employment area will provide jobs in is with the parcel directly east of the various fields as well as new types of North Metro Rail Line Station. This industry that is highly coveted. These parcel we propose to be a Planned Unit uses can seamlessly be converted Development that will be designed and from industrial use and fit well in the planned specifically for the Chicano industrial district of Elyria. population in the community. This site will be a mixed use residential and We intend to amend the Denver Zoning commercial. The PUD will have various Code to reflect and attract these new housing typologies with commercial land uses. fronting Brighton Blvd and Elyria Park.

This PUD will incorporate many types

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ELYRIA

Brighton Boulevard Main Street INTRO

PLANNING

Elyria

ig

ht on

Bl

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RiNo

Br

Located in one of the northern most neighborhoods in Denver between 47th and 48th Avenue, Elyria’s Brighton Boulevard corridor has great potential as a future commercial main street.

Currently, the section of Brighton Boulevard that runs through Elyria is underutilized. There are a handful of businesses and residences along the corridor but the bulk of the land is used for National Western Stock Show parking. However, future developments in the area like the new commuter rail station and the National Western Center and CSU Collaborative could bring a significant amount of revenue as well as visitors to Elyria.

Thus, a commercial main street in this location would act as a middle ground for those attending events at the NWC and the residents of Elyria. Another important factor that may encourage development in this area is its proximity to the RiNo District to the south. Improving this section of Brighton Boulevard would be a fluid extension of the City of Denver’s Brighton Boulevard Redevelopment Project.

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CULTURAL RELEVANCE Another critical component to Elyria’s main street development would be encouraging and enabling culturally relevant businesses.

There is a large Hispanic population in Elyria and as an effort to empower this population as well as provide for their needs we suggested encouraging businesses like a panadarias (bread store) or carnicerias (meat store).

Integrating specialty goods and services into this area could improve the economy in Elyria Although one of Denver’s main arterials, Brighton would enhance the pedestrian realm and provide by addressing an underserved market while Boulevard is inconsistent in terms of street width, more space for store frontage. also making the corridor more economically sidewalk connectivity, and curb and gutter infrastructure. It ranges from 68 feet at its widest Further improvements would include, installing to 36 feet, which is the width of the boulevard in streetlights with branded banners, wayfinding Elyria (Brighton Blvd Project). The future vision tools, increased number of benches, trashcans and for this corridor entails rezoning for mixed-use to recycling receptacles, planting trees, and utilizing encourage ground floor retail and second and third bioswales or rain gardens. Branding Brighton floor residential. In order to support these changes Boulevard and building wayfinding tools would the project team suggested several infrastructure highlight Elyria’s unique character and enhance improvements including narrowing the travel knowledge of opportunities in the neighborhood. lanes to a width of ten feet and integrating on Providing trash and recycling bins and planting trees street parking on both sides of the road. This along Brighton would not only enrich the aesthetics would act as a traffic calming measure and attract of the corridor but also improve its environmental attention to the businesses in this area while health. Bioswales would act as buffers between also making the corridor safer for pedestrians. the sidewalk and the road, supplement drainage Moreover, connecting and widening sidewalks infrastructure, and also green the street.

CORRIDOR IMPROVEMENTS

vibrant.

Other improvements that could increase cultural integration into the new commercial main street are design standards, wide sidewalks, longer business hours, and ample parking preferably in the back of buildings (Lara). Design standards include maintaining the historical feel of the corridor by requiring traditional building facades and designs.

Allowing the use of bold colors and murals on buildings that could promote cultural expression in the corridor. Also, requiring storefronts with large windows that are close to the street are a common occurrence in Hispanic neighborhoods.

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TIMELINE Short-term DUG in Elyria – 1 year Branding – 1 year Greening – 1 year Mid-term Superficial street improvements (striping) 3-5 years Acquiring/assembling parcels along Brighton 3-5 years Business attraction plan3-5 years

PLANNING

Agriculture has historically been a cultural influence in the Elyria neighborhood. Moreover, neighborhood residents are eager to grow their own produce but lack the space to do it because of past contamination of the soil in Elyria. One of the greatest providers in the neighborhood is the GrowHaus, a nonprofit that provides affordable fresh produce for Globeville, Elyria, and Swansea residents. In addition to teaching them skills for growing their own gardens, the GrowHaus also lends them the necessary tools to do so. Denver Urban Gardens, another nonprofit organization, offers opportunities for community cohesion while providing the necessary resources for starting and supporting a community garden. Building a main street community garden in Elyria could provide this much needed space and the opportunity to learn small-scale farming techniques.

ELYRIA

MAIN STREET GARDEN

Long-term Local Entrepreneurship –10+ years Street Improvements – full redesign 10+ years (NACTO).

Further externalities include increased revenue in Elyria from selling locally grown produce on the commercial main street and an increase in pride in the community as a result of empowered residents.

By locating the garden on a former North Western Stock Show parking lot on Brighton it will foster knowledge of the community’s priorities, past and present, and promote main street greening techniques.

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Planned Unit Development

The planning team envisions an Elyria that is vibrant, connected, and liveable. We believe that increasing the housing stock and supporting participation and integration of the neighborhood’s Latinos into the local systems is what will make the most stable and satisfied communities.

To achieve this, we propose a Planned Unit Development (PUD) of residential and mixed use for the land bordered by Brighton Boulevard, East 47th Avenue, High Street and Race Street. The site is across the street from the future light rail station, and is located on Brighton. These two main transportation influences could bring Brighton a lot more foot traffic and vitality (as exemplified in our main street plan). This could make the development of this PUD more viable, and could help maintain the main street. The proposed PUD could include culturally appropriate shopping, a small green business park, small apartment complexes, and

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ELYRIA We suggest the use of a Planned Unit Development, so that some more progressive planning ideas can be incorporated, despite irregularity with the City’s zoning expectations.

visual interest, overall beauty, and development incentivization.

Having retention ponds reduces the amount of storm water management that will be put on to the future developers of the land.

In 2010, 21% of Colorado and 34% of Denver’s population was Latino (www.pewhispanic.org). In addition to this, 31% of all births in 2010 in the State of Colorado were Latino. This shows that the Latino population in the area is on a steady growth (GRAPH). As the Latino population grows, as the United States becomes more active in mitigating marginalization, and as the importance of place making is understood—planners must find a way to design urban environments that can encompass these growing needs.

PLANNING

a pocket neighborhood. We believe that the row homes, shopping area, apartments, and business park should be left as flexible as possible so as to help make development feasible, and in order to assure the feasibility of the more progressive design features in the PUD, such as green infrastructure, the pocket neighborhood, and the Zócalo.

In this plan we will go into detail on the development of a pocket neighborhood and a community area we have dubbed the Zócalo.

Currently, the proposed PUD land is zoned as general industrial and is being used as a marijuana grow house, post office, car recycling and storage areas, and unused Denver Public Schools land. The goals for the proposed PUD is to supply dense housing with affordable options, create a design that facilitates community, have creative parking options that reduce land covered, and an increase in overall tree coverage and green infrastructure in the area.

Elyria only has five percent tree coverage according to the Denver County Canopy Assessment 2013, while the rest of the city has 20-30% coverage. To address this we suggest the implementation of green infrastructure, including porous pavement, rain gardens, bioswales, tree planting, and in particular retention ponds. These ponds could create

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Place making with cultural businesses, barbershop and folk magic store combined.

POCKET NEIGHBORHOOD

Argo Park, Globeville

The first idea for development that will be explored in depth is the Pocket Neighborhood. The term “Pocket Neighborhood” can be applied to many types of design. The primary idea is that the homes are designed especially for community interaction. We imagine these lots currently zoned as General Industrial, be transformed into a vibrant community with a strong connection to place. The most representative information about Pocket Neighborhoods comes from the book “Pocket Neighborhoods” by Ross Chapin (www.pocketneighborhoods.net). For the neighborhood, we suggest several design standards including: parking in the footprint of the building, front entrance onto shared pocket parks, and streets similar to “Cittaslow” streets.

Since the Latino population of Denver and Colorado is growing, it is wise to start planning specifically for this community so as to empower their full participation in the State’s future and built environment. Right now most of Denver’s Latino population lives in older suburbs, similar to Elyria. Thanks to Elyria’s large relatively cheap land, Denver has the unique opportunity to create a public space specifically for Latino place making.

Placemaking is already happening throughout the Elyria area. This sort of independent unsponsed by the city design, is known as guerilla urbanism or tactical urbanism. One way to bring more Latino influence into Elyria

is to support the continued community-made art and public space.

Place making with cultural businesses, barbershop and folk magic store combined.

The creation of the PUD will feature two designs that must be explained in more detail. These include the ideas of a Pocket Neighborhood and the creation of a Zócalo.

The other building products on the PUD are intended to be designed independently by developers, and should change with demand, while the Pocket Neighborhood and Zócalo should be designed with specific ideals in mind.

Mural on private home, Denver.

The “Cittaslow” movement is similar to the well-known philosophical movement of “Slow Food.” The philosophical basis of Cittaslow is the support of a built environment that supports a traditional lifestyle, and environments that are personal and walkable. One of the ways that this movement has supported these more intimate urban environments is through slow streets (GRAPH). The premise of these streets is that the roadways are to be used by pedestrians, cars, and bikes all at once. This can be done through traffic calming techniques such as irregularly shaped roads, slow speed limits, and planters in the middle of the road.

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that gathered at the park and the City of Denver had several years of contentious interactions, culminating in 1981. In that year the city authorities went so far as to deploy a SWAT team to the Park to enforce a permit violation. The following summer, they demolished its pool (Langegger). Both of these major steps by the City led to the falling apart of the Park’s community. Since then there have been few low cost opportunities for Latinos to gather regularly. To address this, to illustrate planning for Latino communities, and to support community development, we suggest the creation of a public In order to make a specifically Latino plaza on the land owned by the Denver oriented environment, we proposed Public School system (directly across the construction of a community areas, from Elyria Park). wherein cultural, political, and social events can happen. We have named this area the Zócalo in the heart of our proposed PUD. Latinos need more opportunities in the Denver area for authentic and meaningful spaces, Planning for Latinos is a very complex where Latino identity can be celebrated. subject, as Latino populations can be In addition to this, the site must be made of many Latino demographics, made flexible and loose enough to such as Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, meet many needs that the community Guatemalans, etc. In planning for Elyria’s may come up with. A public area was Latino community we have planned chosen because of Denver’s history and specifically with the idea that Latinos because of planning suggestions from need place to produce their own space, Latino urban theorists. and not just consume it (Kamel). To help create opportunities for networks An example of this is Columbus Park, to form, to help Elyria become vibrant, in Denver. During the 1970s, Columbus and to keep that vitality, we suggest Park on 38th Street in Denver, became integrated opportunities for adaptive the center of community building and reuse (Informal economy), authenticity, cultural identity development in the loose space, and the idea of third place.

Denver area for Latinos. The community This planned unit development can

Planning Latinos

Suggestions

PLANNING

Planning specifically for Latino populations is a fairly new idea to land use in the United States. Colorado, and in particular Denver, has a fast growing Latino population. In order to help become an even more vibrant, livable, and stable place planning must acknowledge and support the health, happiness, and welfare of the Latino community. Planning for Latinos cannot be oversimplified, as these communities can be made up of many different heritages and wants. Through the planning team’s research, a few design criteria have been distilled.

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ZOCALO

for

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take Latin influence as a basis for design rather than a happenstance, therein creating an opportunity to explore what modern Latino planning can look like. Latinos need place for the support of cultural identity in an authentic and sincere way (Rios). This can also give an opportunity to show that this community is supported and that the city wants to invest in their future, which is needed (Rojas).

Therefore, we suggest that the following list of planning suggestions be applied: have signs in Spanish (Rojas), have Latino oriented murals (Rojas), create space for taco trucks (Rojas), create plazas (Fonseca, Rojas), legitimize small-scale businesses (informal economy), create urban design guidelines allow for a lot of flexibility in public space (Rios), supply mixed-use areas (Kamel).

Two aspects of Latino places that could help stabilize our proposed PUD is that planners should promote ownership of place to secure cultural and economic spaces (Vazquez), and to remember that Latinos often feel that their homes are their most important asset (Fonseca).

Creating a sense of place in the Zócalo that is actually regularly used

by Latinos, could be a complex and dynamic process. In our research one of the common threads for planning for Latinos is creating opportunities for informal economies and flexible space (Fonseca, Vasquez, Rojas, Rios).

Formality and informality have long been used to control marginalized groups, allowing for less formal community environments and economies could help bolster the economic stability of Latinos in Elyria.

In many Latino communities individuals will sell food and products out of their home to supplement their income. Some have even created small stores in their homes, sometimes known as “mercaditos” (Rojas).

Attempts at the decriminalization of adaptive reuse (Rios) is key to supporting new Latino developments.

This looseness that includes currently informal economies is helped by the availability of “transformation space” such as pocket parks, parks, public squares (Rojas). The creation of a community center like our proposed Zócalo could facilitate the support and pseudo-formalization of independent economies. Open air market—such as a flea market or farmers market— could be used to help formalize and support the economic development of those participating in the informal economy. An environment that already functions like this is alive and well in Denver. It is known as the Handmade Homemade Market (popularly known as HaHo). In order to gain entrance into this market one must make a small fee, which makes one a member of the nonprofit, this allows for the sale of products that would otherwise need a business

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concepts. Third places are bars, public spaces (perhaps with food trucks), restaurants, salons etc, and can be pretty much anything that can function as a community’s social gathering place. These concepts can be hard to define, but they are quintessential in creating a sense of place, destination, and an interesting stable community.

To understand “loose space”, “third place”, and their relation to how residents experience them, it is important to understand the idea of authentic experience. Ning Wang of Zhongshan University, China, has created a career of exploring the meaning and experience of authenticity. There are two primary understandings of authenticity that lend themselves well to understanding urban place making in particular. These are “Existential Authenticity” and “Intra-Personal Authenticity.” He states that “existential experience” is the source of the feeling of

in new activities. Loose space is a public area appropriated and redesigned or used in a way that meets the public’s own needs and desires. This can manifest in many ways, but always represents the creative reuse and flexibility of urban areas. The most common conditions in the experience and creation of looseness comes from having a variety of public open spaces, enough people to afford anonymity among strangers, a diversity of people, and a fluidity of meaning and context of the urban space (Frank 4). The most powerful thing about these places is that they are minimally designed or controlled, they can be incorporated into basic public structures. All parts of a city can be used to create looseness, for example, “Walls, fences and ledges, which are often supposed to delimit space and behavior, can be sat upon, climbed onto…; their looseness is a product of affordances which such boundaries provide. Niches, stairs and recesses located at the edges of public spaces encourage people to linger. A hard and expansive surface, free of objects or structures, such as a parking lot or plaza, allows for a variety of behavioral possibilities…“(Frank 8).

To provide opportunities for loose space, third side, and an experience of authenticity (which could be related to regular new activities), we suggest varied programming of events at the Zócalo. The Zócalo could be host to many events including farmers markets, Growhaus programming, HaHo or similar events, social programming, political space, and space for cultural events such as baile folklorico (PIC). The space could also help create a connection to the National Western Stock Show, create educational space, movies in the park could play in the area and more. To encourage regular and active programming in the Zócalo we suggest the construction of a stage (map circle) and the construction of a Latino Heritage monument. Since the National Western Center will begin year round traffic oriented around the Western theme, an acknowledgement of Colorado’s long Latino influence could be particularly appropriate.

These urban forum ideas can be used to evaluate the experience of someone and their experience of urban landscape. One can use the understanding of third place and loose space to catalogue what draws people to an area, what keeps people in the area, and potentially what brings them back. It also creates a basis for what planners can look for in helping to develop a more communityoriented and interactive city. By creating a sense of place with flexible use of space and a comfortable environment, planners can help foster emotional and psychological connections. By supporting environments that are flexible and support intrapersonal with liminal activities people are more likely to help

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The Zócalo as “Loose Space”

If these understandings of place are correct, how can a planner help foster these experiences of place? One way is through supporting and creating “third places.” In this context we hope that the Zócalo can be used in a flexible enough way by the community to help create a third place.

PLANNING

license. Creating more flexible, but legal, markets like this could authenticity. This involves, “personal or inter-subjective feelings help the local community create stronger networks and support activated by the liminal process of tourist activities” (Wang 352). systems.

Liminal, roughly translated, means occupying the first stage of a process. The experience of liminal space allows for people to feel more authentic and able to express themselves more freely then in their home lives. This happens because the tourists engage in non-ordinary activities, and are allowed to feel more authentic The use of the Zócalo for public space can best be explored simply through new actions. Being in spaces that facilitate this through the concepts of “loose space,” “authenticity,” and “third sort of new experience fits well into the concept of loose space. place.” These are conceptual models for understanding and working with the built environment. The creation of the Zócalo Spaces must be flexible enough to make multiple types of is an attempt to create “third place,” that facilitates the other two people feel comfortable together and comfortable participating

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create their own entertainment a tourists experience of a place can be felt deeply authentic. Creating a space with these ideas in place can help create symbiotic interactions with local Latinos and place making.

Financing the PUD This project is very unique, and therefore will need creative financing. Three particularly active groups in the Denver area that may be able to help this project become more viable are the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Latino Commission from the City of Denver, and the Chicano Humanities and Arts Council. In addition, Denver’s Transit Oriented Development Fund, could help with funding.

The fund seeks to preserve and create affordable housing along transportation lines that will be built. This fund will create $25 million in capital for the purchase of land used for transit oriented housing. The TOD fund was created to help control the cost of housing and transportation for those that spend 60% of their gross income on housing and transportation expenses combined. The fund will, “make it possible for families to build wealth, and access employment and educational opportunities; it will provide employers with access to an expanded workforce” (Denver Transit Oriented Development Fund). Since the proposed PUD is directly across the street from a light rail station, this funding could be particularly valuable.

Another funding source could be Denver’s new cultural plan, Imagine 2020. This plan consulted over 5,000 Denver residents about what they want to see happen in the Denver area. Some of the final goals laid out by Imagine 2020 include: public-private partnership for infrastructure for cultural development and promotion, identify all available art in every neighborhood, note cultural deserts, and promote the growth of culture, address barriers that limit participation such as affordability, transportation and other factors. Right now there are very little public art or venues in Elyria. In addition to this there are transportation barriers, poor infrastructure, and many low-income residents. Creating community space with more art, ideally Latino-oriented art, could help create a sense of place and connection in the Zócalo.

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wetlands ($6k per 300k acres), retention ponds ($50k per 2k m3), and bioswales ($17 per square foot).

These investments are appropriate for the site, as one of the major barriers to investment in Elyria is the perceived value and outdated infrastructure. After rain, water tends to pool throughout the National Western Facility. If this development took place it could directly affect the residents by creating access to a currently inaccessible riverfront, this connected to the benefits of green space will help improve the perceived value of the Stock Show. The estimates included come from an interview with Austin Troy, a professor at Colorado University Denver.

PLANNING

Most of Elyria is composed of underutilized industrial sites. According to Denver County’s Tree Canopy Assessment 2013, Elyria has less than 5% of its land covered in trees. Most of Denver has a tree coverage that is between 20% and 30%, or more. The goal of the planning team is to help create green areas that function for several uses. Including storm water management and pollution remediation techniques, like bioremediation as much of Elyria has ground pollution (SEE GRAPH ON GROUND POLLUTION).

There are several forms of green infrastructure that are both cost effective and could be easily implemented in these areas. The proposed green infrastructure implement rain gardens ($4.99 per Square foot), porous pavement ($3.80 per square foot), curb cuts (that allow water into planted areas),

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Green Infrstructure

GREENING

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Perhaps the largest beneficial ecosystem service impact of green infrastructure is the potential psychological and physical health impact. There are many ecosystem services that these double-duty parks can play, and since Elyria only has five percent tree coverage, these investments are particularly needed. Green space has been shown to reduce circulatory diseases (Mitchel and Popham 2008), blood pressure, stress (van den Berg et al., 2007, Hartig et al., 2003), mental fatigue (Kuo and Sullivan, The Inner City, 2011), and reduced symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder (Kuo and Sullivan, Go Out and Play!, 2011). It can even help people recover more quickly from surgeries with fewer post-operative complications, pain killers consumption, and recovery time (Salingaros, Frontiers of Design Science Biophilia, 2012). Green space can facilitate increased physical activity (Kaczynski and Henderson, 2007), communities with more parks showed significantly higher levels of walking and cycling for transportation (Zlot and Schmid, 2005), and also physical activity in these areas are more beneficial than other areas (psychologically) (Van den Berg et al. 2007). The investment in these parks could increase social amenities and habitat (Fernández-Juricic and Jokimäki 2001) for wildlife and urban insects (Hardy and Dennis 1999).

Why Implement Green Infrastructure?

Elyria has many potential soil hazards, and one way that this issue may be addressed is through bioremediation. Bioremediation is the use of plants to remove soil pollutants. Throughout the area we intend green spaces to do double duty—creating a more aesthetically pleasing environment, creating a distributed stormwater system, and implementing bioremediation. There are two ways bioremediation could be applied, the first would be through the planting of annual plants that absorb pollutants. These would later be harvested for transport to permanent storage or processing to remove the pollutants. Trees can be used for long-term storage of pollutants.

The primary pollutants in the Elyria area are lead, cadmium, and zinc, due to early industries. To address these pollutants there are several native xeric species that can be used to clean soil. These include annual plants like Sunflowers (Phelps), Cattails (Casey), and Datura (Jackson). For long-term storage of pollutants, rather than full extraction, trees can be used. Two trees that are native and particularly suited for bioremediation are Cottonwoods (Litchfield), and Juniper (In Situ and On-Site Bioremedition: Volume 3). Another plant that is worthy of mention is Alfalfa.

Alfalfa is a hardy vigorous annual that also absorbs pollutants well (Gardea-Torresday). Though it is not native, it is particularly beneficial for getting plants established because of its nitrogen-fixing capabilities (plant fertilizer), and therein can help make these parks self-sustaining.

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PLANNING

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E 48th Ave Pedestrian Bridge

Due to the lack of connectivity and poor infrastructure throughout Elyria, we wanted to create a bicycle and pedestrian friendly corridor along E 48th Ave. E 48th Ave is a seldomly used corridor and is the divider between the industrial uses of Elyria and the residential that already exists. At one end of the corridor to the west is where the new North Metro Rail Line Station and to the east the road dead ends at Eaton Metal Products which is directly adjacent to the rail lines. We see this stretch of road being a main thoroughfare for residents accessing the station as well as the National Western Center. There is a lot of potential along this road and can become one of the first projects to initiate development and alter the stigma that Elyria currently has.

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CURRENT CONDITIONS The current conditions of E 48th Ave are not conducive to a healthy community let alone a productive street. There are many things wrong with this road, here are some images of the condition of the E 48th Ave. This street is a major hindrance for connectivity within Elyria. This road is currently not traveled by the semi trucks and not traveled heavily by cars. The road currently has no sidewalks or curb and gutter.

This creates a poor walking environment, residents were seen walking in the middle of the road oppose to walking in the dirt sidewalks. This can become problematic with inclimate weather, people will have to walk in the road. Without a buffer from vehicular traffic, the pedestrian environment becomes more dangerous. There is no striping along this road either, this is a hazard for car traffic as well as bike travel.

Another feature that adds to the sparseness of this road is the lack of greening. Currently there are only but a few trees along this stretch of road, trees contribute to the safety of the pedestrians as well as the drivers. There are no stop signs along E 48th Ave between Brighton Blvd and York St, this can see the speeds of cars increase along this road and add to the danger for bikers and pedestrians.

Due to the proximity to the residential pocket of Elyria, E 48th Ave can provide the residents with a safe thoroughfare, that is accessible and features greening techniques. The corridor already has a contingency of bike riders that use this road for travel, which helps support our claim of having multi modal potential. With some infrastructure improvements and

greening introduced, the corridor can become active and aesthetically appealing. Our goal in this is to create a safe walkable and bikeable street to connect the residents to and from the new light rail station as well as create a connection to the Swansea neighborhood.

This connection to Swansea we propose being created through a bike and pedestrian bridge through Eaton Metal Products. There is a natural connection that should be made between neighborhoods, the amenities that each neighborhood currently has and will have in the future will make for a good transference of cultural and blending of the neighborhoods despite the barriers that exist. Swansea has amenities such as a church, a family services center, as well as a community center, it would be wise to try and make these amenities more accessible for the Elyria residents.

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Grants, CDBG funds, and Health Impact Assessment for Improved Community Design. All of these FUNDING funds can be required for healthy Completion for this project will be community/transportation design an undertaking of the Public Works in low income neighborhoods. department to build sidewalks and curb and gutter. Colorado TIMELINE Department of Transportation would be the main entity to Short Term undertake the job of building - painted bike lanes the bridge as well as potentially - construction of sidewalks a private engineering firm. Parks - pedestrian bridge feasibility and Recreation, Eaton as well study the neighborhoods themselves - community outreach will be all be key entities in the - easement allotment success of getting the project built. Some funding sources that Mid Term we will be attempting to acquire - bridge construction will be: General Improvement - joint neighborhood events Funds, Live Well Grant for healthy communities, TIGER Discretionary

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of the neighborhoods.

PLANNING

The entrance for the pedestrian bridge will be through the Eaton Metal Products sign. With the cooperation of Eaton we will like to use their metal crane arch for the gateway to the pedestrian bridge. The bridge will have two paths, for pedestrians and bicyclist to ensure ultimate safety while crossing. The shape of the bridge will provide ease of entrance and exit for bikers as well as provide for viewsheds along the route, of the Rocky Mountains and Downtown Denver. Here are some images of how the bridge design could look as well as how the entrance to the bridge on the Elyria side could look. Integration of street art on the bridge or near the entrance should be encouraged to give character and display the culture

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National Western Center and CSU Campus DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE AND SCIENCE Our focus on the area west of Brighton Boulevard and east of the South Platte River is informed by two major changes to the area in the coming years. The first is a new partnership and vision for the National Western Center, and the second is a new commuter rail station.

CITY OF DENVER

CITY OF DENVER

HISTORY COLORADO

NATIONAL WESTERN CENTER PARTNERSHIP In July, 2013, the National Western Stock Show, Colorado State University, History Colorado, the Museum of Science and Nature and the City of Denver became partners in a plan to create a year-round venue at the National Western Center in Elyria. Their priorities are Education, Economic Development and Tourism and Entertainment (Memorandum of Understanding, 2013). The land owned by the City of Denver and the National Western Stock Show and its surroundings represent 230 acres of potential to reinvigorate the Elyria neighborhood.

The City of Denver sees this as a big opportunity, and invested $800,000 in 2013 and $800,000 in 2014 to conduct a Master Plan for the National Western Center area (Community Planning and Development Department, 2013).

Needs identified by the partners include making the area a year-round events center, promoting Western heritage, hosting larger events including equestrian events, preserving parking while strategically utilizing land, creating a learning opportunity for CSU students and incorporating the needs of the community into the area.

NATIONAL WESTERN CENTER

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OPPORTUNITIES:

Secondly, RTD is building a commuter rail station on Brighton Boulevard in the northeast corner of this study area, which opens up many possibilities for encouraging public transit trips to and from the National Western Center, the new residential mixed use area across the street from the station and the existing residential neighborhood. The commuter rail line, to open in 2016, serves the North Metro line. This station is the last station before arriving at Denver Union Station, and may serve as a cost-effective location to Park-and-Ride into downtown. To accommodate this need, 40 parking spaces will be built by RTD to service the station and more spaces are proposed in our redevelopment plan. It will likely increase property prices in the area within a half mile of the station, which may encourage higher uses for the industrial area.

Based on the desires of the National Western Center Partners and the neighborhood, we have identified a number of opportunities for redevelopment in the National Western Center study area.

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NORTH METRO RAIL LINE STATION

EVENTS VENUE PLANNING

National Western Center partners envision a 10,000 seat events center to be located on the existing Coliseum parking lot (Nalley, 2014). The Columbus Civic Center is an example of a 10,000 seat, 23,000 square foot events center. Once constructed, the Coliseum will become a CSU agricultural and livestock learning space.

To accommodate this new use, we propose that a structured parking lot be constructed.Currently 47% of NWSS land is surface parking (Nalley, 2014). We believe that by building a structured parking lot, we can make better use of the paved surface parking, particularly in areas that abut residential uses or on land that can be put to a higher use. We envision this structured be located between the existing coliseum and the new events center, partially under highway I-70.

Placed here, the structured lot can park spectators for the National Western Stock Show, the events center, CSU events in the Coliseum and CSU student parking. We believe this is the most central location available for a structured lot.

According to some estimates, structured parking would cost about $65 per square foot (Reed Construction Data, n.d.).

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RIVER FRONT PARK

HERITAGE HOTEL AND MIXED USE In order to attract more visitors to the National Western Center and to further the theme of the complex, we propose a Western Heritage Hotel be located near a new riverfront park. It will be adjacent to mixed use residential and commercial that caters to the needs of the hotel visitors.

We believe that the land along the South Platte River can be converted into a recreational park, which would serve multiple purposes. First, as the land adjacent to the river is at risk of flooding (Denver Maps, 2014), a park would serve as a flood buffer for the rest of the neighborhood. The park would satisfy green infrastructure priorities for the neighborhood such as natural stormwater absorption and increasing vegetation. This park would also make use of the views of the river and would provide recreational space for the adjacent student housing complex, the mixed use residential land use and the heritage hotel.

Park programming could include fireworks, carnivals, theater, picnics and intra-mural sports. As a gravity-reliant sewage pipe currently runs along the South Platte River on the eastern bank (future park site) we recommend not grading the site so that it accesses the river but rather erecting a viewing fence so that park visitors can enjoy the view of the river without disturbing city infrastructure.

Bridges that cross the South Platte River into Globeville will be conveniently accessible at the northern end of the park on Race Street and on the Southern end of the park at 47th Avenue.

restaurants. allow accessory outdoor sales (such as flower stands or the outdoor display of merchandise) to occur year round. buildings are to be located within 5-15 feet of the property line for at least 70% of the lot frontage along all streets. encourage outdoor seating by allowing buildings to be setback up to 20 feet from the property line within the required build-to area in order to accommodate outdoor seating areas (Cherry Creek District Zoning, 2014).

To accommodate a five story hotel, the zoning for this area will need to be changed from General Industrial (I-B) to Industrial Mixed Use (I-MX-5). This zoning allows for a pedestrianoriented street pattern with buildings up to the street that promote a transition from industrial to commercial and residential uses (City and Denver’s Enterprise Tax Zone is an opportunity County of Denver Zoning Code, 2014). for businesses interested in opening in this area to receive tax rebates. They include a To promote a walkable mixed-use area and 3% investment tax credit for purchases on campus, the following design guidelines should equipment, computers, furniture, vehicles, etc.; a be considered for the area west of the National credit of up to $500 per new job created; $200 for Western Center: every new employee on a company-sponsored enable a variety of active, pedestrian-friendly health plan; a 10% tax credit on job training for uses at the ground floor, including shops and employees.

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STOCKYARD GREENING

PLANNING

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As there is a desire to host more equestrian and agricultural events, we propose the stockyards be seeded with native grasses such as Wheat Grass (Leithead, et. al., 1971) and that movable animal pens are utilized in order to allow for multiple uses such as for horses or other livestock.

Additionally, removing the brick pavers and replacing them with soil and vegetation allows for stormwater to percolate into the ground rather than flow into storm sewers and reduces air pollution and greenhouse gases (Bolund and Hunhammar, 1999).

COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY CAMPUS

CSU and History Colorado could work together to elevate the use of the historic 1916 Stockyard Exchange Building by converting the vacant rooms into classrooms. Currently, the Stockyard exchange building appears to be more than 50% vacant, and houses law offices and non-profit organizations whose missions are not affiliated with the National Western Center. Because of its prime location in the center of the study area, we believe that classrooms for Colorado State University would allow students the opportunity to interact with livestock and agriculture on site within close proximity of the classroom.

Because CSU will be locating itself in the Elyria neighborhood, opportunities for community learning should be included in the University’s plan. Free tuition was extended to residents and

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descendants of the neighborhood that the Auraria Campus displaced in the 1970s (Brown, 2006). And as recently as April, 2014, Washington State University extended a one-year tuition waiver to students from a nearby community affected by mudslides (Long, 2014).

Elyria is known for its heirloom tomato, developed in 1911 by stockyard workers who wanted the juiciest beefsteak tomato (Be, 2011). The neighborhood, the Growhaus and CSU can capitalize on this history and create student-resident programs in urban agriculture. We propose that one place for this can be in a large community garden on Brighton Boulevard next to the North Metro station and across the street from a new residential and commercial mixed use development with a large plaza that can be used for selling produce grown at the garden.

STUDENT HOUSING We propose affordable one to three-bedroom apartments along the riverfront park and near mixed use residential and retail uses for CSU student housing. Housing rental costs would need to be commensurate with costs at the CSU Ft. Collins campus, which are approximately $700 - $1,000 per month for one and two bedroom apartments (Colorado State University Housing and Dining Services, n.d.).

One way to finance the construction of this student housing is through The University Finance Foundation, whose mission is to assist Institutions around the country in the expansion of their education and research mission through facility investments (The University Finance Foundation, n.d.).

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BRANDING AND WAYFINDING

The National Western Center and its Partners need visible branding to advertise their events to the public and wayfinding signage to help visitors find their way around.

Our vision includes the creation of street lights with banners that advertise the National Western Center, Colorado State University, other partners and the Elyria community. Further, the creation of wayfinding signs to direct visitors and community members to the library, the recreation center, Elyria Park, the riverfront park, CSU classrooms, the commuter rail station and other attractions would increase exploration of the neighborhood.

The City of Denver has launched a pilot grant program called “P.S. You are Here” that seeks to grant up to $8,000 to neighborhoods that seek to “accelerate economic vitality, inspire neighborhood revitalization and...nurture and honor community identity and heritage” (Denver Arts & Venues, n.d.). The Elyria-Swansea-Globeville Business Association could apply for these funds to finance the wayfinding signage and neighborhood lightpost banners.

INCREASING MOBILITY Currently a number of railroad tracks bisect land in the National Western Center study area. From east to west, they are owned/operated by Burlington Northern Railroad, Western Stock Show Association and Rock Island Railroad. The City of Denver will embark on a Rail Consolidation Study to consolidate the multiple rail lines in order to enable redevelopment of the land west of the National Western Stock Show property.

Rail line consolidation is not a new concept in Denver.

In 1986, numerous rail lines were combined to form the consolidated main line at Denver Union Station (Downtown Denver Area Plan, 2006).

Lastly, to improve connectivity with Globeville we are proposing a street be constructed that begins as 47th Avenue and intersects with Brighton Boulevard, continues through what has historically been National Stock Show Association land and under railroad tracks to the river, where a bridge will be constructed to connect this street with 48th Avenue in Globeville. This street will include striped bike lanes in order to provide a safer bike route to Globeville than is currently recommended by the City of Denver’s Bicycle Route, which currently feeds bikers under I-70 and then under viaducts with no shoulder space in which to maneuver if there is vehicular traffic.

TIMELINE AND PHASING

As mobility between and within the neighborhood has been a historical challenge, redevelopment will include In the National Western Center study area, the following a number of new streets through previously industrial projects and actions could be achieved in the near-term (next 8 years): areas.

Railroad relocation feasibility study First, a street will be constructed to turn west from Rezoning of industrial land to Industrial Mixed Use 5 Brighton Boulevard just north of the commuter rail Stories (I-MX-5) station and travel south along the western side of the Redevelopment of Denver Public Schools land railroad tracks upon which the commuter rail will run. Branding and signage This will increase connectivity with the railroad station Adaptive reuse of existing brick buildings to residential use and with the proposed uses in that area.

Convert stockyards to grassy space Second, a street parallel to and west of the National Acquire property for new roads Western Drive will be constructed to reduce block RTD Commuter rail opens length and allow access to the land along the river that The following actions and projects could be achieved in is to become a Riverfront Park. the mid-term (in 9-16 years): To connect this new street to National Western Drive, we Construct student housing propose three local streets that will run perpendicular Construct heritage hotel to National Western Drive and the street along the Acquire parcels for riverfront park park. These streets will conform to Denver Public Works’ dimensions for collector streets, which specify a 68 The following actions and projects could be achieved in foot Right of Way, five foot sidewalks, eight foot tree the long-term (17-24 years): lawns and two 20 foot travel/parking lanes (Denver Construct new events center Construct structured parking lot Department of Public Works, 1993).

Construct riverfront park

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CONCLUSION

The Elyria neighborhood is in a unique position to benefit from a number of new developments in the neighborhood. Between the agreement to make the National Western Center into a year-round western heritage venue and the opening of the commuter rail station along the North Metro line, an infusion of funding and activity can bring economic growth and revitalization to the neighborhood. During this transitional time, the heritage and needs of existing residents must be championed. The establishment of a communityoriented main street and a zocalo plaza within a new residential mixed-use Planned Unit Development are a few of the ways this plan proposes to preserve and enhance the neighborhood’s Latino culture. It is hoped that this plan can guide responsible development in the neighborhood for the years to come.

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CONCLUSION

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CONCLUDING

ELYRIA

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PHOTOS: San Jose Taqueria photo  http://www.bunrab.com/dailyfeed/2007October/dailyfeed_october-07_p3.html Mission for Cultural Arts photo  http://www.chatterblock.com/resources/9737/mission-cultural-center-for-latino-arts-san-francisco-ca/ Gloucester main street photo  http://www.boston.com/travel/explorene/galleries/quaint_new_england_main_streets?pg=3 Greenville main street photo  http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/americas-greatest-main-streets/24 Aerial Santa Monica CG  http://www.alexmaclean.com/#/books/designs-on-the-land/DOL_LS_5377_06 Santa Monica CG  http://www.preservationwayne.org/blogs/index.php?blog=4&title=the-american-garden&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1 Growth in Latino Population in CO graph  http://www.pewhispanic.org/ Pocket Neighborhood photo  http://www.pocket-neighborhoods.net/ Slow Streets Image from a lecture from Professor Korkut Onaran, Colorado University Denver.

Stapleton Quebec Square shopping center and Retention pond at City Park  http://www2.epa.gov/region8/green-infrastructure Denver rain garden and Taxi development rain garden  http://www2.epa.gov/region8/green-infrastructure Plant graphic  http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2010-jun-sunflowers-for-lead-spider-plants-for-arsenic Datura  http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Datura_wrightii_flower.jpg Cottonwood  http://cottonwood-tree.blogspot.com/2011_02_01_archive.html